When we're moving content from one page to another (e.g. when we move Brit's article into Solar cooking at high latitudes) do we just make the new page and copy the content over, or is there something more sophisticated we need to do (like preserving the history somehow)? --Beth Ogilvie 15:19, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

The "move this page" link moves both the page and the talk page. You should use be sure to document the reason for the move in the space provided. Cut and paste moves are reverted by admins on Wikipedia and if the move is warranted, the "move this page" procedure is used.

Do you know about "watch this page"? That link will put the current page (and its talk page) on your watch list. The "My watchlist" link displays recent changes to those pages. It is a way of having to notify others of changes to forum pages (which I have on my watchlist, by the way), for example. Walter Siegmund 17:22, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

I know about "watch this page" (and am watching various pages :) but I hadn't discovered the "my watchlist" link. Thanks.

Two questions about moves:

If we do a move from Brit's page to Cooking at high latitudes, it'll put a redirect on her page, but assuming she wants a Who's Who page, we have to eliminate the redirect - and put in a normal link from her page to the new Cooking at... page. Right?

I have bookmarked "My watchlist". It is usually the first page I load when I visit the Solar Cooking Wiki. It's a very useful page!

On your first question, I think you must be right. You need admin privileges for the second problem. Non-administrators can't move a page to any existing page. This is to prevent an inexperienced editor from overwriting an existing page and deleting content and edit histories. I think the answer is that the administrator has to look at the contents of the page (and its talk and edit history) to be overwritten and judge what if any is to be merged or moved prior to overwriting the page. For Sun Ovens International, it should be straightforward. However, I probably should ask a Wikipedia administrator about these questions. (I am not an admin on Wikipedia; just an editor with 18 months of experience and 4000 edits.) I'm not sure that I understand all the issues. Walter Siegmund 22:33, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

I did the first move exactly as you suggested, except it was necessary to remove the redirect from Talk:Brit Bakken Oedegaard, in addition. The edit histories for both articles look reasonable. Walter Siegmund 23:01, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

On the second one, I tried moving the page to Sun Ovens International and it was successful. I think the lesson here is that administrators need to be very careful with page moves. It appears to be possible to overwrite content, (possibly only redirects). I really didn't expect that to be possible. Instead, I expected to have to remove all the content from the "move to" pages before the move would succeed. You don't need to worry too much about circular redirect. The software will only execute one level of redirect thereby preventing endless loops. However, it is considered good practice to look at "what links here" after a move and update the links from articles (but not talk pages) to the old title. Anyhow, I hope you don't mind that I did these moves. Best wishes, Walter Siegmund 23:37, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

:::Those pages would be good to have here. but in a much more condensed version. Moves and Merges are different. I don't see the ability to Move a page here, so whoever has administrator abilities will have to do this. As I see the way this wiki works now, the only way to relocate information is to hit the edit tab and then copy the information you want elsewhere...then create the new page and paste the copied wording and images into that new page...the administrator would then either create a redirect of the old page to the new one, or delete the old page. If the only difference between the old page and the new one is a minor spelling alteration, a redirect is best.--72.198.221.98 06:52, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

::::You can always leave a note on the Talk page and request that an administrator move the page. If we do it, the history follows long with it. Tom Sponheim 07:56, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

Correction: Most page moves do NOT require an administrator. But, please use the "Move this page" link. Do NOT cut and paste to move an article. Cut and paste moves mean more work for us because the page history is not moved with the content. The only time administrator intervention is required is if the "move to" page contains content that would be overwritten by a move. Please see w:Help:Moving pages for detailed directions for all logged-in editors. Walter Siegmund 18:58, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

The post made by the IP above were mine, so I stuck them out. Editing under just an IP, there were no options to move a page, hence my bad advice earlier.--RangerDave 06:40, 4 February 2007 (UTC)